We showered in buildings shared with dozens of strangers, using fixtures that were designed to turn themselves off every minute or so and stepping gingerly on mud-streaked floors.

We even negotiated some knee-deep puddles around our vacation spot of choice, brought on by — imagine our luck — heavy rains that had struck just before we arrived, rendering portions of the facility unuseable.

Oh, and one more thing. We had a great time.

On our way to Camp Jellystone in Bagley, Wis., we wheeled my dad’s pickup onto the historic Cassville-Millville ferry for a fantastic (and trip-shortening) ride across the Mississippi River. (I hadn’t realized it when we rode, but our trip, on July 4, was apparently the ferry’s first day of operation since mid-June due to Mississippi River flooding. Our lucky day.)

Yes, packing for a camping trip is time-consuming and slightly stressful, and the aforementioned soggy condition of a portion of the campground brought us a bit too close to conditions back home. But thanks to our accommodations (a very nice on-site cabin, which we’ve rented now for three consecutive years) and the pleasure of spending time with another family with which we’re pretty close, it became abundantly clear:

For three days over the holiday weekend, there was nowhere I’d rather have been.